Rains throw life out of gear in Lucknow

Lucknow, Sep 15 (IANS) Heavy rains continued to batter the state capital for the second consecutive day Saturday. The weather department has predicted wet days till next week.

Rains began here midnight, a day after the city recorded its heaviest downpour - 150 mm plus of rains in a single day - in the entire monsoon season this year.

The weatherman says the conditions would “more or less” be the same for the next two days, owing to a low pressure area over central Uttar Pradesh and the passing of a monsoon trough line over Lucknow, Shahjahanpur and Azamgarh.

Following the heavy rains, two major house collapses were reported in the city, killing four.

A policeman was electrocuted inside Gosainganj police station. And at other places water inundated several residential colonies, some with neck deep water.

The Lucknow Municipal Corporation also threw up its hands in despair citing the “volume of the terrible rains”.

Angry residents aired their disappointment at the sewerage and accused the civic authorities of unpreparedness and callousness.

“We are standing in neck deep water here and we have no one to our rescue,” said an angry Ram Lakhan Srivastava here.

Pumps were pressed into service since Saturday morning in water-logged colonies and roads.

Water entered many departments in the King George’s Medical College (KGMC) and patients had to be evacuated from some wards. The medicine and the paedeatric department were flooded in knee-deep water. The OPD was hit at two other government hospitals - Balrampur and Civil hospital, said officials.

Rail traffic has also been hit and trains like the Lucknow Mail, the Doon Express and Chandigarh Express ran late by several hours. Running schedule of trains like Pushpak Express, Lucknow-Gorakhpur Express, Chitrakoot Express, Kaifiyat Express have also been disturbed, railway officials said.